Secrets
by SkyBridge15
Summary: Lena retrieved her glass of wine and tried to figure out seven different versions of her next seven moves. A Super and a Luthor? No, she couldn't of imagined. At least not like this. A story where Kara is exposed to Red Kryptonite, forcing Lena to face some truths. Supercorp.


Lena Luthor swirled the wine in her glass with a satisfied sigh. It was not often that she felt this relaxed. Granted, it was also not often that she was able to fully leave her work at the office, change into her favorite pair of sweat pants and her favorite, oversized MIT sweatshirt, and curl up on the couch with the latest chemical engineering magazine. But that is where this Thursday night found her, on the couch of her penthouse with one leg curled to her chest and one leg dangling down to the floor, with soft classical music filling the space around here. There was very little that could be done to improve this evening.

Her phone vibrated on the coffee table and a picture of her best friend, Kara Danvers, popped up on the screen. Well, that was certainly one thing.

Lena carefully marked her spot in the magazine and answered the phone with a smile, "Miss Danvers?"

"Lena Luthor?" Her smile slid from her face at the unexpected voice. She couldn't quite place it over the background noises of revving engines and muffled shouting. "This is Agent Alex Danvers, do you remember me?"

"Of course Agent Danvers. Is everything all right with Kara?"

"Well, no." Lena's heart seized at the uncertain pause in Agent Danvers answer as much as at the answer herself. "Look, I don't have time to explain. Supergirl has been poisoned with a substance that effects her mental processing. She is very dangerous. And right now, best we can tell, she is on her way to your home. Multiple teams, including my own, are en route but she is going to beat us there. Do everything you can to keep her calm. Keep her talking. Do not try to argue with her, or tell her to do things she doesn't want to do, unless you are in immediate danger. We are thirteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds out. Hold on Ms. Luthor. We are on our way."

The call went dead in Lena's hands as she sat frozen on the couch. And it had been such a nice night, really. Could she try to run? No, there was no point in that. She fought down the pointless impulse to check the locks on her balcony door. Her eyes flitted across her apartment, but of course there was nothing that could be used as a weapon against someone so powerful. So Lena did the only thing she could do; she made her way into the kitchen and refilled her glass of wine, downed it, and refilled it again if only to have something to do with her hands.

A loud, dull thud and a surprisingly polite knock alerted her to the presence of the super hero. Lena schooled her features into a calm mask and made her way to the balcony door. She did not expect what she found.

"Kara?" she started, as surprised as if a purple elephant had arrived outside her window. _Did supergirl drop her off here for some reason?_

"Hello Lena." The woman answered, raising her voice enough to be heard through the glass, the way one might speak to a friend in an overcrowded bar.

Lena placed her glass down at the coffee table, delaying as much as she dared, before moving towards the door. She looked over at Kara through the window. The other woman was smirking at her in a very unfamiliar way that brought a flush to her cheeks.

Kara paused when the lock clicked and the door swung open. Lena cast her arm out invitingly, her eyebrow raising in question. "Kara Danvers, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Zor-El, actually." She stated, stepping into the space, leaving the door open behind her.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's Kara Zor-El. Danvers is just a mask I wear when I am weak."

Kara's eyes flickered and glowed red, the substance burning in a spider-web below her face.

"You've really not figured it out by now? Here I thought you were smart. Would donning a cape really make it that much easier." Kara pulled her glasses off and casually dropped them to the floor. She pulled her pastel sweater off revealing a dark blue tank-top beneath and flexed the muscles in her arm with a sly smile. She reached up and loosened her ponytail, letting her hair fall down her back in gentle curls. And the images that Lena kept in her mind of Kara Danvers and Supergirl blurred and merged into one. Once it was there, she had no idea how she had not seen it before.

"Supergirl. It's you, isn't it?"

"Yes, there it is. I've been thinking of telling you since the day that we met. Thinking of pulling you from your office and flying you someplace way up high. I fantasized about ways that I could impress you. Doesn't matter now. You're quite pretty when you're not pretending to be the same as everyone else. I like this look on you." Lena tried to track the changes in conversation, her mind sluggish with surprise. Kara stepped uncomfortably close and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Lena could not tell which she wanted more, to lean in, or to lean away.

Uncertain of her next move, Lena reverted to formalities. "Is there anything I can help you with, Kara Zor-El?" she asked with the same empty smile she used at board meetings.

"Rule with me?"

"I'm sorry?"

A look of authentic frustration passed across Kara's face and she turned around to stride across the room, pacing. "You know what I am. And I know what you are. Just _imagine_. A Luthor and a Super, working together. You said you wanted to work together more in the future. You meant it right?"

Lena moved back towards the coffee table and retrieved her wine glass, taking a healthy drink as she tried to regain control of the chess game, tried to figure out seven different versions of her next seven moves. She turned back towards the hero, canting her hip out to rest against the sofa. "I suppose I am not sure what you are asking me. Care to fill in the specifics?"

"You of all people have to understand. Humans are weak and petty and compulsive. Any one of them would be so easy to kill. It's a struggle not to really. I always have to check my speed, check my strength, watch my movements. I have to remember to give when people bump into me on the street. It is exhausting. And in the end, they kill each other anyways. Always, always, always. They're destructive. Then they call for my help and bitch that I don't make enough of a difference. But you're not like that. You are brilliant. So very brilliant. Between the two of us we could put an end to all that. Our rule could stop these mindless fights. And we could both stop pretending that we're no better than the rest of them."

When Kara smiled it was a dark thing. It was cruel, and cold, and held none of the sunny warmth that Lena always associated with both Kara Danvers, even on her worst days. This perversion of her friend was nothing she could of ever been ready for.

"Kara, I'm. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. I'm not sure that's what you want." Lena replied softly.

"It's what we both want. You'll see."

"Kara-"

"No, Lena. Rao. I thought you'd understand. I thought you'd want to help me. I'm your only friend in National City. You should be thrilled I want to include you in this." Lena swallowed thickly and tried to keep the hurt off of her face. "You've been working so hard to separate yourself from Lex and from the Luthors. This is your chance. This is something that could actually work, it's not just a perfunctory name change. I know you don't want me to be bound and docile like the rest of them. This is the best you'll ever be, the best you can be. I want you by my side." Kara strode towards Lena and pulled the other woman firmly against her body. Her hands settled down at Lena's hips, wrapping around them much too tight. Together, they floated up nearly two feet. Instinctively, Lena tried pushing back against her shoulders. It did as much good as pushing against a concrete wall.

"Kara, you're hurting me."

"You're beautiful, Lena. Beautiful and brilliant and strong, the strongest human I know. Whenever you walk into a room, you own it, no matter where you are. And I'm not interested in holding back any longer. You. You will be mine."

Kara leaned down and pressed her lips against Lena's in a bruising kiss. Distantly, she was aware of Lena trying to push back. Kara hummed in contentment and pulled back to smile at the other woman. Lena's mask of calm composure had finally slipped off, and when Kara looked into her striking green eyes, all she could see was fear.

It was almost as if Kara could see Lex in the back of her mind. She had heard enough about him from Clark, Lena, and others at the DEO. She knew all about how he went crazy, and began to stockpile weapons across the country. She remembered when he opened war against Superman, declaring that so much power held in one person was too risky to ever be safe. In the fear of Lena's eyes, she saw Lex's truth.

Kara jerked back as if she had been burned. Lena dropped to the ground and stumbled before regaining her footing. Kara flew to the far corner of the room, and then across it to the other, like a bird suddenly trapped in a cage. She dropped to her knees somewhere in the dining room groaning, her hands coming to cradle her head as if it was splitting open in pain. "No, no, no, NO."

Just beyond Lena, the door to the apartment burst open and DEO agents poured in with Alex at their helm.

"Lena, step away from her," she shouted as an agent came up to pull her out of harm's way just as she began to take a half step back towards the alien.

"Alex." Kara cried piteously. She was pushing her head so hard into the ground that it was deflecting and cracking the wooden floor. "Get it out of me, Alex. Make it stop." She swung out her fist, slamming it into the leg of the dining room table, which splintered causing the top to tilt and fall.

Alex shouldered her gun and fired three rounds at her younger sister. A puff of red smoke broke free from her body, and Kara Danvers collapsed, unconscious, to the floor.

* * *

Alex stopped by the next morning to make sure that Lena was alright. When Lena invited her in, Alex took the time to answer her questions about Kara being Supergirl, how she came to this planet, and why she took up the cape. She accepted the glass of wine like she needed it as much as Lena and promised that she would call when Kara woke up.

Lena got that phone call two days later while she was at the office and she could not decide if she was happy or upset to hear the news. She had Jess clear the final meeting in her schedule and headed home early.

Being at home didn't help. At least at work there was something there to distract her from the silence of her phone. Lena opened another bottle of her favorite wine and poured herself a glass. She traded her heels and power outfit for clothes that were soft and comforting. Eventually, she found her way back to the couch and to the magazine she hadn't touched since that night.

It wasn't quite relaxing this time.

Darkness slowly fell on the city, and the sounds of the street below swelled and calmed. Lights clicked on in distant apartments, twinkling like not-so-distant stars. Outside, a whisper of a sound caught her attention. Lena looked up and saw the faint outline of Supergirl half hidden in the shadows on her balcony. Lena returned to her magazine, taking the time to read every word in every article. She did not look up again until she finally reached the end of the edition. Supergirl was still there.

Left with no other choice than to ignore her and retire to bed for a sleepless night, or take initiative, Lena schooled her expression and strode up to the balcony to unlock the door. She poked her head around the frame and squinted into the night to try to get a good look at the younger woman. Supergirl turned her head but could not make herself meet Lena's eyes. She was perched up against a small table, her body hunched in on itself. Part of her had wanted to demand answers, to get this conversation started and over with, but when she saw her there she couldn't squash the familiar feeling of fondness that settled into her gut. "The door is open, when you're ready." Lena said with a sigh.

Lena pulled her computer from her bag and returned to the couch. She tried to focus on some proposal for work, but, while her eyes tracked the words across the screen, she could not retain any of the information. Lena tried anyways. She was nothing if not tenacious.

A half hour later, Supergirl meekly made her way into the apartment. She shot Lena a watery smile and then dropped her eyes back to the ground. She swayed, uncertain of where to stand or where to sit.

"Wasn't sure if Supergirl or Kara would visit me first," Lena stated, gesturing towards the couch.

Kara sank into it and slipped her feet from her boots so that she could pull her knees to her chest. To Lena, Supergirl had never looked smaller. "I thought it would make me feel braver."

"Did it?"

"I don't know if it really matters in the end. Lena, I am so sorry. Rao, words can't explain how sorry I am. I never wanted to," her words broke into a sob and trailed off and she began to berate herself "Stupid, stupid, stupid. Pull it together, Danvers, we said we weren't going to do this."

"Kara," Lena's voice softened and she turned slightly towards the younger woman, although she did not reach out.

"I don't even know what to do!" Kara exclaimed, throwing her hands up in a burst of movement before curling back in on herself. "I know I can't fix this. And I desperately want to. I desperately want to be selfish and to ask you to forgive me, or to ask you to just not hate me and I can't. I've been so selfish already. I'm so sorry Lena. I'd give anything to take that back."

Both of the women fell back into silence as Kara tried to get her tears under control. Lena waited a few minutes, and then pressed forward. "Can you do something for me?"

"Anything within my power is yours."

"Can you explain red kryptonite to me?"

"Yes. What do you know so far?"

"Alex said that it was a synthetic version of natural, green kryptonite that effects your mental processes. She said that you become every bad thought that you've ever had. What was left of Lex's files seemed to agree with that. Is that what happened?"

"Sort of. Mostly. The version of me that's at the surface doesn't understand people's emotions the same way. I guess on some level I still understand that they have them, but I can't connect to them. I want all the terrible things from my darkest moments, and feel entitled to bully or harm people until I can get what I want. And I enjoy that; I enjoy the moments where I hurt them enough to give in. And it's so very awful, because it feels like I'm still inside there watching everything and being unable to do anything about it."

Lena was quiet a moment and a distant, safe part of her wondered at the science. She forged on, "Was wanting me part of your darkest moments?"

"Rao, no Lena, no. Caring for you – I don't even deserve to voice this thought, but – caring for you is one of my purest feelings. I think that's why hurting you let me brake through the haze of the Red-K."

"Alex had seemed surprised by that."

"God, what I did, it was too awful to stand. I couldn't have that ugly need to take you without thought of care or consequence inside of me. It wasn't physical exactly, but somehow it _hurt._ I'm so sorry."

"So, you like me then?' Lena asked, the tone of her voice giving away no hint of her own feelings on the matter. Kara nodded piteously. "Why didn't you say anything."

"Well, I couldn't do anything without you knowing about my, um, my 'night job.'" Even in the comfort of Lena's home, wrapped in the evidence of her identity, Kara's voice dropped conspiratorially as she referred to it. She paused, and then carried on in a normal tone,"And our friendship was so important, I didn't want to do anything to risk it."

"And why didn't you tell me your secret? Was it because I was a Luthor? How come I didn't earn your trust."

"Oh, Lena," Kara began, and broke into sobs again. Lena's hand flitted uncertainly towards the hero's shoulder and then fell back to her side.

"It hurt you know," Lena continued as Kara faltered, "To not have that trust. I still can't shake the fear that I'm somehow being used, that maybe you're digging for information or just keeping an eye on me."

"It wasn't that at all. I'm so _so_ sorry. It wasn't because of your family, and it wasn't because I didn't trust you, and it wasn't even because I wanted to keep you safe – and I wish it was, I wish I could claim that. Maybe I was using you in a way, I don't even know. I was just so selfish."

Something cold and solid settled in the pit of Lena's stomach. She cleared her throat and her eyes dropped to her hands primly folded in her lap. "Selfish? I feel like I'm saying this a lot to you recently, but I don't quite understand."

"Let me put my thoughts together. Rao, I've been working to explain this in my head since I woke up and I'm still not sure I have the words." Kara took a deep steadying breath. "It's like this. Kara Danvers, she's authentically part of me. I am _authentically_ Kara Danvers. When I'm bumbling like an idiot around you because that thing you do with your eyebrow that short-circuits my brain, that's not an act. When I talk about how I love my job, I really mean it; working at CatCo is so important to me. When I explain my thoughts and feelings, that isn't some persona I put on. It's just me. And Supergirl, she's me too. I want to be out there helping people. I can't imagine _not_ doing it anymore. I would be lost without it. But when I come into a room and people expect me to be certain and strong, giving them that can be hard sometimes. When people look to me as a symbol of hope, I mean, how can I let them down? So, while I have to wear the cape because it is part of me, sometimes it is so very heavy." Kara pulled nervously at a loose thread in the couch, then seemed to realize what she was doing and tried to smooth it back out.

"Sometimes it feels like my friends who know see me as Supergirl first. They see me as someone indestructible. It was really nice having a friend who saw me as just Kara Danvers. I could get nervous or scared around you, and I could trip over my own words; I could have terrible off days and I wasn't letting you down in some fundamental way. I could be weak and vulnerable. In fact, I was all those imperfect things and I was somehow still your hero. Do you have any idea how whole that made me feel? I know I should've told you sooner, I know you deserved that truth, but I was selfish. Because it was nice to come over and catch lunch with you and know with absolute certainty that all the most human parts of me were enough."

"Oh sweetie, you've always been enough. And you always will be enough. Cape or no cape," Lena promised, leaning into the younger woman and wrapping her arms around her gently. That she hadn't expected. Kara didn't keep the secret because she was somehow less than her other friends. She kept it because she was scared that if she came out as a hero, she could never feel comfortable showing herself as anything except certain, brave, and strong. In a perverse way, she kept her secret so that she could feel comfortable expressing her authentic feelings.

"How can you say that? How can you even want to be near me, after everything that happened?"

"Because you can still be weak and imperfect and vulnerable around me; you can still have terrible off days. You can be broken and hurt and confused, and you, as Kara Danvers or as Kara Zor-El, _you_ will still be enough. I know what it's like to be broken too." Lena couldn't say the last bit, _I know what it's like to feel as if only your very best is anywhere near good enough. I know the exhaustion of failing to be perfect._

"Lena. I don't deserve that."

"I'm not sure if that's for you to say."

"You can't forgive me for what I did on Red-K. _I_ can't forgive _myself_ for what I did."

"And I won't ask you to. It needs to come in your own time. But, lord knows I would have done terrible things if I was ever exposed to something that worked like Red-K on me. And, while we're being honest, ravishing you would be somewhere high on the list. We would all fail if we were defined by the worst parts of ourselves. I'm not too proud that I can't admit that." Kara just turned into Lena, finally unfolding herself into the other woman as she shuddered with quiet sobs. "Any other secrets I should know about?"

Kara shook her head, thought about it, and pulled away slightly to make one more confession, "When I bring you lunch I usually buy myself two lunches and eat one on the way over."

That startled a laugh from Lena, and she smiled what felt like the first authentic smile in days. She tightened her hold on the hero briefly and then stood up. "Come along. We've done enough for today. Things will feel a bit better in the morning."

Lena led Kara through her apartment, the superhero following meekly behind. She sat Kara down on the edge of her bed and moved through her personal spaces, gathering supplies and completing her own bedtime routine. When she was done, she handed the superhero a toothbrush and towel, and her own set of worn sweats (and couldn't help herself from including a MIT t-shirt as well), and gently pushed her towards the bathroom.

Lena settled into bed with a book as a shower started up in the other room. For a moment, she pushed aside all the hurt and the confusion that she still needed to work through – that _they_ still needed to work through – and reveled in the domesticity of it. Kara Danvers was showering in her apartment, and, in a few moments, she would come out, wet and tousled, dressed in her clothes; dressed in her college t-shirt.

When Kara emerged, she was once again wavering and uncertain. Lena patted the space on the bed next to her.

"Lena-"

"Please?" Lena cut off whatever argument that Kara was about to make, her plea effectively silencing the younger woman.

Kara climbed stiffly into the other side of the bed. Lena pulled the covers up over both of them and clicked off the light. She could hear the other woman's stuttering breathing as she continued to work to regain control of her emotions. Lena reached out, tentatively at first, but when no resistance came she pulled herself to the back of her super hero, holding her gently. She could not help but voice her fears, "Are you just here out of guilt?"

"No, Lena. But I don't deserve this." Her voice sounded disembodied in the darkness. It was deeper and husky from all the time spent crying, and it floated over them like a dark cloud.

"It's not about what you or I deserve. I think we could both use this right now, am I wrong?"

"No, you're not wrong."

"Good." Lena tucked her head in the crook of Kara's neck, at the back of her shoulder and took a deep breath. Kara smelled like her own familiar shampoo. "Goodnight, Kara."

* * *

Four Months Later:

Lena could not remember the last time she felt this terrified. "Kara," she called out into her apartment, "Kara? You better not have left on another donut run!"

"I'm here, Princess, don't worry."

Lena strode out into the living room to find her girlfriend settled onto her couch. She hadn't gotten properly redressed since she had taken her to bed. Her hair was still tousled, and traces of Lena's lipstick still trailed down her neck. She was lounging in an MIT t-shirt and one of the pairs of boxer briefs that were increasingly finding their way into Lena's laundry and drawers. Her current distraction lay on the coffee table next to her, a half-eaten large pizza that had been _nowhere_ in the apartment before Lena had stepped into the shower. Kara looked up at the older woman with a happy smile, and then her face startled and shifted at her appearance.

"Oh, Rao."

"Which pants do you think would be better?" Lena asked, frantically, holding two sets in one hand and a third in the other for Kara's appraisal.

"Um?" Kara could hardly see the pants. She hadn't seen much of anything since realizing that Lena's indecision about her outfit left her in a matching set of lingerie. It was lacy. And green. And did she mention it was lacy?"

"Kara!"

"Uh-huh, yeah, definitely go like that. Maybe with some heels." Kara muttered, half moving to standing up as her eyes drifted slowly along her girlfriend's form. One of the best parts of dating, she had decided, was you get to check out your girlfriend whenever you wanted and it wasn't creepy. She could touch her butt a lot too. Lena had an incredible ass.

Lena was looking at her expectantly, and then, there it was, her eyebrow rose half an inch.

Suddenly, Kara blurred across the room and had the other woman in a strong embrace. Kara's hands settled on the bottom of the green lace to pull their bodies flush together, squeezing gently with a moan. She smiled that goofy smile and leaned down to capture the older woman in a searing kiss. Lena dropped the pants in her hands and wrapped her arms around the back of her hero's neck. But when Kara tried to deepen the kiss, Lena pulled away. "Lena," she whined, stepping back to give her space and gesturing at her girlfriend's state of undress.

"Absolutely not, _we already did that_."

"I don't remember any complaints." Kara pouted.

"Well, I had no reason to, but now we're running late to game night! And why aren't you dressed yet?"

 _Right,_ Kara thought. _Lena's first game night, she had been worried about that._ Kara looked down at her own outfit with a guilty smile and suddenly the space next to Lena was empty. Kara sped through the bedroom and came back a moment later fully ready to go. Her hair was pulled back in reasonable order, and the lipstick was washed from her neck. She was wearing a pair of khakis and a fitted American flag t-shirt with the crest of El that James had bought her as a joke. Alex hated when she wore it, so mostly Lena stole it to sleep in. But it wasn't like they were going out in public, and it was always fun ruffling her big sister's feathers.

Lena looked at her in approval, it was almost unfair. "What am I going to wear?" She asked in anguish. Kara's eyes tracked up and down her body and gave her a pointed look, " _I cannot wear lingerie to your sister's house_."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"But-"

"Kara," Lena's said in a tone that was low with warning.

"Right, um, those then." Kara said, pointing down randomly to one of the pair of pants on the floor.

"These?" Lena picked up the pair.

"Mhm. Your, um, butt looks great in them," she promised as she reached down for another slice of pizza.

"Darling, you didn't even look at them."

Kara shrugged, unconcerned. "Your butt looks great in all your clothes, Princess."

"Sometimes, I don't know why I'm dating you." Lena huffed as she strode back into her bedroom, but she smirked fondly at Kara's indignant squawk, "Hey!"

A few minutes later, she strode back out. She was wearing the pants that Kara had suggested, a pair of dark-washed skinny jeans, and a tastefully ruffled silk shirt. Kara was once again lounging on the couch, but the pizza and the box had disappeared from the table as if they had never been there in the first place. "How about this?"

Kara looked up, and twirled her finger with a smirk. Lena rolled her eyes and, yup, there was that eyebrow thing again. But she indulged her by spinning around in place. "Too formal," she said knowingly. Truly, Kara thought she looked amazing in everything. But experience had taught her that if she didn't offer at least one constructive criticism then Lena thought she wasn't paying enough attention.

Lena came back out a moment later in the same jeans, layered white and gray tank tops, and a leather jacket. "Do you think this outfit needs a scarf?"

Kara looked up from her donut and smiled fondly. "Nope, those clothes look perfect. Maybe the gold necklace, you know the dangly one you wear sometimes?"

Lena wasn't a fool, she knew when her girlfriend was being intentionally vague. "Right, the 'dangly one.'"

When she strode out back out a final time, her makeup was set, her shoes were on, and she was, indeed, wearing a dangling gold pendant necklace. "We're going to be late." She said, checking her matching watch as she grabbed her clutch and a nice bottle of wine.

"Huh, well, I better help us along then." Kara dusted her hands off and gave her girlfriend a wicked smile. She blurred next to the older woman and picked up her up bridal style, before taking off into the night sky. Lena's startled scream turned into giggles pressed against Kara's chest as supergirl went as fast as she, a human, could stand.

When they arrived at Alex's, both Alex and Maggie met them at the balcony door. "Come on in, Little Danvers, Luthor."

"Sawyer," Lena greeted sardonically, before her face broke into an authentic smile, "And Alex, it's lovely to see you as always."

"You too. Ooh, this is a nice vintage," Alex said appreciably as she relieved Lena of the wine.

They all made their way into the kitchen and they found themselves picking up familiar conversations. Kara flitted around the room, trying to get the games ready, before settling down next to her girlfriend, her hand ghosting over the small of her back. Lena smiled up at her. This felt good, familial even. She had spent plenty of time before with Maggie and Alex, and they'd established a comfortable friendship. She had even met with each of them a few times on her own, to go over a new device ("No one else enjoys this 'nerd' talk except you, Lena. As much as I love chatting about guns and strategy, it's nice to get back down to some basic science."), or to just grab a drink and shoot a game of pool ("I'm going to beat Alex one day, Lena, I promise.") And she had met the boys before, on and off, through a variety of social situations and supergirl consultations. But this was the first time they had all been able to get the night free to plan a game night. Under this familiar setting, and next to her girlfriend's calming presence the nerves were beginning to burn off. Which begged the question

"So, where are the boys anyways?" Kara asked.

"We told them a later time," Alex explained with a smile, "We wanted to give you the chance to get settled first." Lena smiled in appreciation. More and more recently, some of Alex's more protective instincts were being extended to her.

"Besides, who knows when you two are going to be late," Maggie joked with a sly grin.

"Hey!" Kara replied indignant, "We were here on time."

"Not exactly."

"We were pretty close."

"Fifteen minutes isn't exactly close."

"It's fashionable!"

"And that was even with flying here." Maggie said pointedly and, suddenly, Lena knew exactly where this line of questioning was going. She half turned towards her girlfriend to watch her careen towards an obvious trap.

"It's the best form of travel."

"You can go pretty fast huh."

"Break the sound barrier if I want."

"Did you do that tonight?"

"No, Lena's a human, and her hair looked really nice." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What exactly, are you trying to say?"

"Just wondering what could have possibly held the girl of steel up for quite so long?"

"We had things to do."

"Things?"

"Important things."

"'Important things,' huh? Well, I guess what the two of you get up to in the privacy of your own bedroom is none of my business."

The change was almost comical. Kara's face whitened, and then turned a dark shade of red as her eyes flitted away towards the corners of the room. "Well, Lena. I mean, her clothes, not like that, and you know, time."

"Damnit," Alex muttered, pulling a twenty from her pocket it and handing it over to the detective.

"Nice work, Little Danvers," Maggie said with a smirk.

"It's not that!" Kara cried out, her voice breaking just a little too high.

"Of course not."

"I can't believe you guys still bet on me!"

"Easy money. Need it to keep playing pool."

Kara looked towards Lena for help and Lena returned a fond smile. She rose on her tip toes to press a chaste kiss to the corner of her girlfriend's lips. "How you kept your secret for so long, I'll never know."


End file.
